Photographer Research- Dorothea Lange

Dorothy's Lange was a photographer who took famous photographs throughout the Great Depression. I chose her as one of my photographers because she shows journey in completely different way than anyone that I've seen before. She shows a journey that the poor families have to travel to find work, also it shows the journey from the how it was like to live during this time compared to the world that we live in now. 

This photo shows a family travelling down a dirt track , you can tell that they're poor due to the fact that they are weRing rangy clothes and the fact that they have very few possessions. Comparing it from then to now you can see the journey through time that has occurred and the changes that have happened to get us from having to travel to find work to the world that we live in now.  

A vehicle can be seen within this photo which gives the high connection to a journey. I think this photo is really very powerful as she has captured the atmosphere completely. It is black and white however I don't think that this is because of choice but what equipment she had in this time. Again there are near to no possessions tied to the car which indicates their wealth status as being rather low. 

His family siting on the back of a cart shows that during this time the whole family would have to travel around together instead of just the men, to me this means that the family doesn't have a per enact home and is probably living out of the small cart that they are siting on. This photo is really powerful to me and shows a journey in a way that impacts the way I think about how people had to travel in the past.




This is a really strongly linked photo to my theme of a journey because it shows two men walking down a dirt track probably going on their way to try and find work. The board gives the photo a comical sense because obviously the men can take the train because they are too poor. I like that she included the board within the photo as it really add to the impact.

Influence-

Dorotheas photography can influence my own work through the use of a powerful message linked with the theme of journey. I think that it would be a good idea to use black and white if I were to influence her work within my own work because it add to the idea that the people in the photo has nothing not even colour.

Overall I really like the impact that Langes photography has on the theme of journey and that inspires me to add the same style to some of my own shoots.

Photographers Research- Foster Huntington

Foster Huntington is an English photographer who has spent time travelling around in a campervan taking photos of the van and the places that he travelled to. I chose Huntington as one of my photographers because his photography shows many aspects that can relate to my theme, I also chose him because there are many different aspects of his photography that I feel I could relate to within my own work to make it better. I really like the ways he positions the van in his shots to show different aspects of his journey. I think that his series shows a journey as a collective and works best in that way.

This photo shows huntingtons camper an parked on the beach, the props or objects on top of the van show that they are planning on surfing and being quite active. I feel that the fact it's a camper van shows that they are travelling for a long period of time because if they weren't then wouldn't need a camper van they could use a normal car. The photos very light and doesn't have much colour however it still conveys a happy feel. I really like this photo as it shows journey in a nice and traditional way.








This is another photograph of huntingtons that I love, the cars parked at the edge of a cliff so you can see the landscape from a high viewpoint. I also like how he's opened up the boot so that you can see the contents of the car. The sleeping bag indicates that they are sleeping in the car which again links to long journeys. This photo shows colour and a completely different setting from the photo above, which imply a that their journey has moved forward. 

This image of Fosters has changed location from the last photo that I looked at. The setting shows mountains in the background and a handmade fire in the foreground. The campervan has been placed so that the side and rear of the van is in view for the audience. I like this photo because it looks like they've parked up for the night until the morning. There aren't many complicated camera or editing techniques within this image, I think including this could improve the photos. 





This is the first photo of his that I have seen him use two camper vans within one photo. I like this photo but I feel that it's just what you see at first then there's nothing else to the photo. There's some contrast between the darkness of the trees to the lightness of the icy floor and bright white sky. This isn't my personal favourite of huntingtons but I can see how it links to my theme. 

Influence-

I can use one aspect of huntingtons photography within my own work, this would be the use of a vehicle that is typically linked with long distance journeys. I don't think that I would want to apply any other aspect of his images. 

Overall Project Evaluation

The final pieces of my photography have been influenced immensely by the photographers that I have researched. I have been able to identify certain aspects of their work that connect with my theme of the journey so that I could develop or use them within my own photographs. An example of this is Lee Friedlander 'America by Car' photography series where he photographed different cities and places across America from the window of his car. I was able to use and replicate this using my own resources and produce a strong series of photographs that show a journey. If there was anything within any of the photographers photos that I didn't like or that didn't fit with the theme then this would help me make decisions on how I could develop them into something that works better, which would also therefore be a unique idea that I myself included within the shoot. From all of the research I can positively say that I have learnt the many different types of techniques and the ways in which they can be incorporated with a journey photography shoot, such as texture.
I have gained new insights into the technical processes and aesthetic processes during this project. A technical aspect that I found worked really well in the majority of shoots that I produced was holding the camera at a low angle, this widened the shot and gave my main object a bigger status within the photo, which then made it more eye-catching for the audience. I feel that using this in some photos added emphasis onto what I was trying to show. An aesthetic process that I learnt within the journey theme was a new way in presenting my work, this was done through the different techniques that I experimented with, as it gave me an insight into what improves the photographs and what doesn't.
Overall I feel that my work that responds to the exam paper shows my chosen topic and has developed on new ways in which a journey can be presented. I am extremely proud of my shoot where I photographed people walking about in town as it shows peoples everyday journeys, while including other indications of journey such as buses. I think that my editing decisions are good and compliment each shoot in its own way, another example is the horse riding photographs. I had to edit these photos the most out of any other shoot, I changed the sky to one that was a brighter blue with white clouds because I wanted the overall picture to feel magical and enchanted, I also used Photoshop to include more grass in some images. This was long editing process for myself as I was trying to learn how to do it on my own, therefore I am happy with how they turned out.
I can see areas that would need improving upon so that the images can be of better quality and a higher standard. One area like this would be more shoots, I feel that if I had taken more photographs that show a journey in different styles then there would be more contrast within the photos and more of a area that has been covered within my work. I feel that colour could have been included within my photographs more, even though this isn't a specification for journey photography. The techniques that I did use within my photography links to the theme however I would have liked it if I had tried more complex techniques that show a wider and more diverse set of computer and camera skills. Overall I am happy with the work that I have produced throughout these photoshoots and can identify places which would use some improvements but all in all my theme can strongly be seen in all photos that I have created and for that I feel that my work is at a good level that I can be proud of.

Framing

Repetition

Connecting Essay 5

This is a photograph by Ben Gold, in this image he has photographed the rear view mirror as the main aspect of the image, so that the viewer can view whats going on behind the car. The camera isn't so close to the mirror therefore you can still see the setting that is in front of the car. The image is in colour and seems really sunny and happy. There is no model or person within the photo its all just car parts and location.

This is a photograph that I took to portray a journey. I have got a close up shot on the side mirror in my car showing the scenery behind. The frame around the mirror is out of focus which allows the viewer to focus their attention on the inside of the photo. I have included a road and cars diving to indicate a journey. I didn't edit the photo in black and white however the setting that my car was parked in didn't have much colour itself which makes it appear as if the image has been changed to black and white. I haven't included any people within my images on purpose anyone that is in the shot were just walking by at the time.

I used Ben Gold as an influence when planning this shoot therefore there are similarities between his work and my photo. For example we have both used a mirror to show whats happening behind the car at that point in time. My photo is a close up however whereas Golds mirror is only in the centre of the photo. We both had included and left that natural colour within the photos, Ben Golds just looks more vibrant due to the sunshine and surroundings. A road can also be seen within both of our images, this is the aspect of both photos that link to travelling and a journey.

Work Record Shoot 4

What I was hoping to achieve-
In this shoot I was hoping to achieve the goal of photographing my own personal journey from my perspective of walking the streets at night time. I wanted to include street lights, parked cars and other aspects of nightlife on the streets. In the editing stages I hope to be able to use different techniques to make the photos look more interesting and so that the journey aspect of each image can be magnified. Techniques included selective colour and the use of texture. I wanted to influence the street light in the images so that they were the only source of light in the whole shot.

What I actually achieved-
I was able to photograph from my point of view of me travelling around the streets, also the lighting from the street lamps were hugely influenced within all of my images which was something I really wanted to include within this shoot. I did use some techniques whilst editing for example smudge and duotone which worked really well and looks really nice. Parked cars and roads of the street are what I mostly photographed, I think with the added orange ting from the street lamps as well that the images visually turned out really nicely.

This is my favourite image from the range that I have produced, this is because the building and surroundings in the photo look really appealing and are completely different from anything in this shoot that i have photographed. I like that the orange ting of the street lights can be seen in the background because this is something that I really wanted to include in these images. I like how the building has shadows on one side that leads into darkness but at the same time blends with the rest of the photo. 

This is my least favourite photo out of all of them. The one thing that In love about this image is the colour that resinates from the light because it flows and fills the entire picture besides the black sky. The quality of this image is poor and not seriously clear, it seems a slight amount blurred. Another thing that i dislike about the photo is the way in which the street moved across the image because it has no significant difference from anything else in that section of the photo. I also don't feel that this is linked in with journey beside the point that its from my perspective. I feel that it could have been improved if a motion blur had been included to indicate movement within the photo.

Camera set up-
I used a Panasonic camera with a Olympus M.12-40mm f2.8 lens. I changed the Exposure to 1/60 secs, f2.8 and ISO 12800.

What I plan on doing next-
If I were to do another shoot then I would have liked to photograph cars in the day time from a side angle. I would want the photos to have loads of colour and be really vibrant because its not been included within my journey shoot much. I would want the framing of the photo to be very straight and have certain sections such as road-car- then above the car.

Overall I feel that this shoot could have gone better and that I could have included my theme throughout more. However some of the images look really nice due to the lighting and techniques that I have included.